France is turning the full force of law and international attention, on a handful of women, singling them out for persecution. If this were an honest attempt to protect France’s secular culture there would have to be a wholesale ban on items signifying religions affiliation such as yamulkes, rosary beads and Sikh turbans. But that would mean going up against much more powerful and — significantly — male interest groups. So Sarkozy and his nasty little right-wing cronies go after a population that is almost by definition unable to fight back. If a Muslim woman wants to remonstrate in public she has to either unveil, which would defeat the purpose, or risk arrest. Neat way of silencing the opposition, no?

French supporters of the ban should consider this: targeting and harassing minorities is where all lethal outbreaks of intolerance begin.